MERLIN GROUP LIMITED

💤Zombieactive

SC097940 · ltd · incorporated 1986-03-20

Investment thesis

Zombie company — trading but stalled; unlikely mover.

Why interesting: Quiet, steady; could be a succession or carve-out candidate with the right conversation.

Why risky: No growth signal; thin margin for error on price.

Why now

Window closing · high confidence

Getting harder to buy cheaply — 3 signals strengthening over the last 30 days.

· Hygiene score: 57 → 77
· Opportunity score: 71 → 79
· Bankability: 65 → 75
· Distress / opportunity: speculative → avoid

Opportunity decay

hardening · 6-months

Hardening — profile is tightening. If you want to act, do it before the window closes further.

· 3 recent signals strengthening vs 0 weakening

What changed my view

Last 30 days

Picture improved over the last 30 days — 3 positive signals vs 0 negative.

↑Opportunity score: 71 → 79
↑Hygiene score: 57 → 77
↑Bankability: 65 → 75
·Distress / opportunity: speculative → avoid

Last 90 days

No snapshot from 90 days ago — start tracking from today.

Last 180 days

No snapshot from 180 days ago — start tracking from today.

🔒Estimated value

—

Upgrade to see

Turnover

—

not disclosed

Net worth

—

book net assets

Opportunity

79/100

Strong

🔒Generate AI memo →🔒Outreach pack →🔒Corporate story →📑 Reports →Sign in to watch

What this business does

Primary activity: Activities of head offices

Sector: Professional, scientific & technical

ALSO REGISTERED FOR

70229Management consultancy activities other than financial management

Investor take

Pursue

Active trading company with a 77-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 79/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (68/100, director aged 77). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Discharge stale live charges. 2 live charge(s) created 15+ years ago — likely paid but undischarged. Clean register. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

4 live charges · 2 lenders · oldest 38.2y

30/100

under pressure

Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.

· Oldest live charge is 38.2 years old — likely at or near maturity.
· Two lenders — manageable, but coordination required.
· Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (60/100)

Adequate coverage. AI outputs are reliable for the sections scored high; verify the rest in diligence.

Company profile

address, 2 SIC codes, incorporation date

100

Financials

No iXBRL financials extracted

Lenders & charges

4 charges (4/4 with lender, 4/4 with type)

Directors & officers

4 officers (2 active, 4 linked, 3 with DOB)

Ownership & PSC

1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared

Director network

10 connected companies via shared directors

Filing history

112 filings on record

Gazette notices

No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)

Opportunity Score

79/100Strong

PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional

Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.

Business quality

Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.

Acquirability

Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.

Risk profile

Few red flags.

Signal strength

100

Good data coverage for analysis.

Recent activity

Last 30 days

filings

Last 90 days

filings

• 1 confirmation-statement
• 1 officers

Last 180 days

filings

• 1 confirmation-statement
• 1 officers
• 1 accounts

Counts from Companies House filing history.

Corporate timeline (25 events)Click to expand

2026-03-26
📄
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2026-03-12
➖
MACLEOD, Allan Davidson resigned
director
2026-02-17
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-08-05
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-07-31
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-08-01
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2022-08-02
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2021-04-16
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2020-07-21
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2019-08-06
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2018-09-10
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2017-07-27
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2016-07-26
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2016-03-17
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2015-07-06
📄
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2015-02-02
📄
annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
annual-return · AR01
2011-01-14
➕
MACLEOD, Allan Davidson appointed
director
2011-01-14
➖
MACLEOD, Calum Alexander, Dr resigned
director
2001-03-26
🔒
Charge registered #5
Lender: The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
1988-09-23
🔓
Charge satisfied #2
1988-09-23
🔓
Charge satisfied #1
1988-03-17
🔒
Charge registered #3
Lender: Lyle Offshore Group PLC
1988-03-17
🔒
Charge registered #2
Lender: The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
1988-03-17
🔒
Charge registered #1
Lender: The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland
1986-03-20
🏢
Company incorporated
As MERLIN GROUP LIMITED

Owner dependency

90/100

Critical — business is the founder

The business appears inseparable from the founder. Acquisition without a serious earn-out or meaningful transition period would likely destroy value.

FACTORS

+Sole director: Only one active director — all governance concentrated on one person.
+Founder age: Director aged approximately 77 — succession pressure is live.

Succession & seller-readiness

85/100

Likely off-market candidate

Strong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.

SIGNALS

primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 77 years old. Natural succession window is now.
primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 40 years old and no new directors in the last 3 years — succession not yet being planned internally.

Red flags

clean

No red flags detected from available public data. (This is not a clean bill of health — detailed accounts review still recommended.)

Group structure

Dunnichen Investments Ltd is the ultimate parent — holding 75%+ shares. This company sits inside their group.

🏛️

Dunnichen Investments Ltd

Corporate parent · holds 75-100% shares

ultimate parent

⬇

MERLIN GROUP LIMITED

This company · SC097940

Parent relationships inferred from Persons with Significant Control filings. Full subsidiary tree requires reverse-lookup (coming).

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%

Name	Shares	Voting rights	Nature of control	Notified
Dunnichen Investments Ltd Corporate entity	75–100%	—	75-100% shares	06/04/2016

From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.

🔒Co-director network graph

Radial SVG graph showing every company connected via shared directors, colour-coded by status.

Available from the Pro tier upwards.

See pricing →

Similar companies

Active · Professional services · AB postcode area

Company	Est. value	Turnover	Net worth	Staff	Age	Opp	Director
STREAMLINE SHIPPING GROUP LIMITED→ SC131956 · est 1991	£15.91M £11.73M–£20.10M	—	—	0	35y	83	74y
GENERAL OCEANS UK HOLDINGS LTD→ SC308386 · est 2006	£9.77M £7.20M–£12.34M	—	—	0	19y	84	68y
HIGHLAND FUELS HOLDINGS LIMITED→ SC215790 · est 2001	£9.50M £7.00M–£12.00M	—	—	300	25y	88	62y
CRAIGSHANNOCH LIMITED→ SC191743 · est 1998	£5.90M £4.34M–£7.45M	£2.95M	—	300	27y	88	67y
HSB HOLDINGS LIMITED→ SC260511 · est 2003	£3.58M £2.64M–£4.52M	—	—	0	22y	84	61y
T D C PARSONS PEEBLES LIMITED→ SC663297 · est 2020	£2.76M £2.03M–£3.48M	£11.52M	—	5100	5y	87	77y
ROTECH HOLDINGS LIMITED→ SC148822 · est 1994	£1.97M £1.45M–£2.49M	£453.6k	—	0	32y	92	58y
WELLTEC (UK) LTD.→ SC204742 · est 2000	£134.9k £99.4k–£170.4k	£17.23M	—	3200	26y	85	62y
ACCURA MEASUREMENT LIMITED→ SC322109 · est 2007	—	—	£5.47M	—	19y	83	60y
ALLEN ASSOCIATES (H.P.E.) LIMITED→ SC201596 · est 1999 · no financials extracted	—	—	—	—	26y	83	59y
BOURTREE INVESTMENTS LIMITED→ SC190868 · est 1998	—	—	—	—	27y	83	61y
CONNECT NDT LIMITED→ SC205224 · est 2000	—	—	—	—	26y	83	70y

Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →

🔒Tailored diligence questions

8 specific questions generated from this company's actual signals — liquidity, leverage, director age, charge count, red flags, age-of-company.

Available from the Pro tier upwards.

See pricing →

🔒Advanced scoring suite

Exit-route ranking, improvement thesis, quiet-distress detector, covenant-pressure proxy, extraction monitor, approaching triggers, ownership drift, local cluster, value trap, debt capacity, archetype classification — 48+ scoring modules.

Available from the Pro tier upwards.

See pricing →

Company details

Statusactive

Typeltd

Incorporated1986-03-20

Jurisdictionscotland

Primary SIC70100 — Activities of head offices

Registered office

The Steading Burnside Of Carnie

Skene

Westhill

Aberdeenshire

AB32 6SL

Filing status

Accounts

Next due: 2027-07-31

Last made up to: 2025-10-31

Confirmation statement

Next due: 2027-01-14

Last: 2025-12-31

Officers (2 active · 2 resigned)

SINCLAIR, Alexander William→

secretary

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

SINCLAIR, Alexander William→

director · ~77y

View their other companies + combined net worth →

Active

MACLEOD, Allan Davidson→

director · ~60y · appointed 2011-01-14 · resigned 2026-03-12

Resigned

MACLEOD, Calum Alexander, Dr→

director · ~91y · resigned 2011-01-14

Resigned

Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.

Mortgages & charges

Total charges

Outstanding

Active lenders

Status:Lender:4 of 4 shown

		Type	Properties
outstanding	Lloyds Banking Group The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland	Bond & floating charge	1 property	26/03/2001	—
outstanding	Lyle Offshore Group Lyle Offshore Group PLC	Floating charge	1 property	17/03/1988	—
satisfied	Lloyds Banking Group The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland	Letter of pledge	1 property	17/03/1988	23/09/1988
satisfied	Lloyds Banking Group The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland	Assignation	1 property	17/03/1988	23/09/1988

Click column headers to sort. Use filters above to narrow by status and lender.

Recent filings (112 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2026-04-28

termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date

officers · TM01

2026-03-26

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full

accounts · AA

2026-02-17

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full

accounts · AA

2025-08-05

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2025-02-22

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full

accounts · AA

2024-07-31

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2024-02-07

accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full

accounts · AA

2023-08-01

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2023-03-08

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity

accounts · AA

2022-08-02

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2022-02-02

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity

accounts · AA

2021-04-16

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2021-02-23

accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity

accounts · AA

2020-07-21

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates

confirmation-statement · CS01

2020-02-23